Fabric-handling mechanism.



No. 789,788.; PATENTED MAY 16, 1905.

G. J. BELLAMY. v FABRIC HANDLING MECHANISM.

APPLIUATION FILED FEB. 12. 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

FIB. l

PATEN TED MAY 16, 1905.

0. J. BELLAMYY. FABRIC HANDLING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 12 1904.

2 SHEETSSHEET. 2.

duo away Niran STATES Patented. May 16, 1905.

PATENT rricn.

CHARLES J. BELLAMY, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 789,788, dated May 16,1905.

Application filed February 12, 1904:- Serial No. 193,306-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES J. BELLAMY, a citizen of theUnited States ofAmerica, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden andCommonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented new and usefulFabric-Handling Mechanism,of which the followingis aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in devices for holdingflexiblefabric in such manner that it can be rolled and unrolled, and comprisescertain peculiarlyarranged abutment and tension members, as hereinafterdescribed and claimed; and the objects of my improvement are, first, toproduce fabric-handling mechanism which enables cloth, paper, or othermaterial having similar characteristics to be successfully wound into aroll and drawn from a roll under constant and approximately eventension; second, to provide such tension for a fabric roll; third, toafford adequate means for handling rolls of any size Within the capacityof any given device; fourth, to furnish mechanism into or from whichrolls may be easily and expeditiously inserted or removed at will, and,fifth, to provide simple and comparatively inexpensive mechanism in theclass named which is eminently practicable and efiicient. I attain theseobjects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 is a side view of a preferred form of my invention; Fig.2, a similar view of the same, illustrating the changed relations of theparts when a smaller roll than the one shown in the preceding View is inposition; Fig. 3, a rear end view of the mechanism as it appears in thefirst figure. Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are views of different kinds of rollerswhich may be used with my mechanism, and Figs. 7 and 8 side views ofmodifications.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

Generally speaking, this invention, which is designed to be employedindependently or in connection with type-writers, handwritingboards,printing-presses, and other machines or devices which utilize fabricfrom a roll and in connection with the manufacture of fabric, consistsof a suitable frame and a series of abutment and tension members mountedtherein or thereon and adapted to invest a fabric roll, some of saidmembers having movable bearings. The addition of a carrier to thebefore-mentioned parts is found to be necessary or advantageous in somecases. While the abutment and tension members usually consist ofrollers, in some cases non-rotary members which are not of rollerformation even may be employed in place of some or all of the rollers,more especially for the abut- 'ment roller or rollers, perhaps.

Although I have shown the embodiment of my invention in the severalforms which it would be most likely to take, it is to be understood thatI do not restrict myself in this connection, but may vary the detailedconstruction of the mechanism to whatever extent is required to meet anyparticular casein hand. In many cases no journals need be provided forthe magazine-roll which this mechanism is designed to handle. Indeed,some of the most valuable applications of said mechanism depend upon theability to feed from a roll supported only by its perimeter and in beingable to wind fabric onto a core which has no journals. In the lattercase the fabric is wound into a roll by fastening the end of a strip ofcloth, paper, or other material to the core and feeding in from the rearor from above by revolving the abutment member or members, or thefeeding in may be done from the front either above or below the abutmentmember or above or below both, if two such members are provided, orbetween the latter. The drawings illustrate the use of the mechanism forfeeding from a roll; but I the other use of winding into or onto a rollor core will be readily understood from the foregoing, taken inconnection with the deconverge from back to front. It should be statedhere that the end of the device from which the fabric is drawn is hereintermed the forward or front end and the opposite end the rear or backend, and in all of the views, except Figs. 8, 4, 5, and 6, the forwardend is at the right. An abutment member or roller (Z, so called becauseit serves as a direct or indirect stop or means of limitation for thetension members described below, has its trunnions or shaft 6 fixedlyjou rnaled in the sides 6 ahead of the middle runway 0. A carriercomprising side pieces ff and connecting-rods g g is here provided, eachof said side pieces having fixed trunnions or studs it and it, whichproject from the outside face thereof into the middle runway c, it beingunderstood that said carrier is inside of the frame. Springs 2' extendforward from the carrier-studs h to points of attachment near the upperedges of the sides Z) and normally draw the carrier toward the front.Two

members j are supported by the carrier and frame, such members beingrollers in this as in the other cases illustrated herewith, thetrunnions or ends of the shafts 7i? of said rollers extending throughslots Z in the side pieces f into the upper and lower runways c in thesides b-that is, the ends of one of said shafts enter the upper pair ofrunways 0 and the ends of the other enter the lower pair of runways 0.The rollers 1' may be termed tensionrollers, since part of their officeis to bear on a magazine-roll with a yielding pressure, as willpresently appear. The slots Z, a pair for each shaft 70, are so arrangedin the side pieces f as to intersect the planes of the upper and lowerrunways 0. Since each pair of studs h and it so it the correspondingrunway 0 that there is little or no motion permitted exceptlongitudinally of said runway, the carrier is thereby prevented fromrocking, and it will be readily seen that if said carrier be movedbackward against the resiliency of the springs the rollers 1' willseparate, being forced apart by the diverging bearings formed by theupper and lower runways 0 for the shafts Z0, and, conversely, if saidcarrier be moved forward, as by said springs, said rollers will approacheach other, said shafts moving freely in the slots Z in any event.

In operation the carrier with its rollers is forced back sufficiently topermit a magazineroll m to beinserted between said rollers and theabutment-roller (Z, and then said carrier is released to its springs.The roll m is now securely held in place under the tension afiorded bythe springs 71 and the fabric n is led therefrom either under or overthe roller (Z, according to the manner in which said roll is placed inthe device. By drawing on the exposed end of the fabric 9% said fabricis'unwound from the roll m, which revolves with comparative freedom, allof the supporting or contact ing rollers rotating with it. As the rollon decreases in size, which it is constantly doing' anism is effected inthe same simple manner as the introduction.

By making the trunnions or shaft p of the core 0 long enough to enterthe middle run ways 0 additional bearings for the roll on are secured,in which event the rollers j serve as followers and tension membersWithout exerting so much influence in the way of supports. In someconstructions, and for heavy rolls in particular, it may be desirable tojournal the roll trunnions or shaft in the manner just noted.

For some purposesto decrease frictional resistance, for instance it maybe deemed best to break up the periphery or peripheries of one or all ofthe rollers used in this mechanism, and I have shown three methods bywhich this can be done. In Fig. 4 the marginal portions 1 q only areadapted for contact with the magazine-roll, in Fig. 5 merely the centralportion q, and in Fig. 6 the marginal and central portions (1 and q.Other forms of rollers having broken peripheries will readily occur toone familar with the art.

Passing now to a consideration of the modifications illustrated in theother views, which modifications, it is clear, do not depart from oraffect the general and essential features underlying my invention, inFig. 7 the middle runway is omitted and spring connections are had withboth shafts 7:; through the medium of links 1 7", or two springs may beused; otherwise the description of the first three views applies to thisone. There is no provision for bearings for the roll-shaft 9. Twoabutment-rollers appear in Fig. 8, where the device is turned end forend, as it were, so that the fabric a can pass forward from the roll onabove or below either of the tensionrollers 7', but preferably out ofcontact therewith. Except for the addition of another abutment-rollerand the reversed position of the mechanism this device does not difierfrom the one first described.

The term magazine-roll as herein employed refers to the transitorymember which the abutment and tension members are adapted to receive,whether said transitory member consists entirely of fabric or is made upby winding or rolling fabric upon a substantial core, which latter, ashereinbefore stated, may or may not be provided with journals, and alsoapplies to the denuded core.

If little or no tension on the fabric is required in feeding, the fabricfrom the magazine-roll may be led rearward instead of forward, leavingthe device somewhere behind the abutment roller or rollers.

I do not wish to be restricted to any particular resilient or yieldingmeans, gravity being sufficient and convenient under some conditions, itonly being necessary that there be an agency or law which constantlytends to keep the tension members against the perimeter of themagazine-roll when in place regardless of the variation thereof.

WhatI claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In fabric-handling mechanism, the combination with a suitable frameprovided with runways, of a carrier provided with transverse members allhaving movable bearings in said runways, certain of said transversemembers having movable bearings also in said 2 carrier on a plane orplanes intersecting the planes of the runways.

2. In fabric-handling mechanism, the combination with a suitable frameprovided with three converging runways, of a carrier provided withtransverse members having movable bearings in all of said runways,certain of said transverse members having movable bearings also in saidcarrier on planes intersecting the planes of the runways.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES J. BELLAMY.

Witnesses:

F. A. CUTTER, A. L. STEVENS.

